Knicks' Game 3 Faults Are Easy Fixes Entering Game 4

There’s been a weird overreaction to the New York Knicks losing a game by four points, during which they had a 42-point quarter and fought through another lopsided whistle.

Say what you will about the referees -- the Spurs did benefit from a historic 24 to 8 second half free throw disparity -- but the Knicks didn’t play a good enough game. That happens, though. And now New York has a few simple things it can focus on to land a different result in Game 4.

It's easy to point at officiating, but the Knicks have plenty to tighten up

There were far too many careless turnovers and meandering on offense. They started both halves lethargic and jittery. It's hard to keep getting yourselves out of holes dug at the start of each half.

We learned long ago that this team is at their best when everyone is getting a piece of the pie. The ball pinging around and Jalen Brunson playing efficient basketball are two things that have fueled their playoff run, but they didn't happen Monday night.

The team had 18 assists for the game, their lowest total of the playoffs and they only recorded less once during the regular season. They averaged just under 28 during the streak. There were also 13 turnovers to the Spurs’ eight, making this New York's largest turnover differential in a game this postseason.

Even with his clutch buckets, Brunson is the only regular who’s been a net negative against San Antonio and he needs to get back to playing what got the Knicks here. It’s almost as if he’s trying to do it all himself or too concerned with jumping Karl-Anthony Towns for MVP honors.

When he's on the court, the Knicks are -13 as compared to +20 when he’s on the bench. The captain has scored 82 points on 81 shots and notched only 13 dimes compared to 13 turnovers. He’s posted a 41.4 eFG% and his usage is up 10% from the first three rounds.

In the fourth quarter, Brunson and OG Anunoby were the only players to show up, scoring 18 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Everyone else was 1-of-16 with two points, including a goose egg on 10 looks from long range. Brunson putting on the superhero cape only goes so far without the supporting cast chipping in.

The Robin to Brunson’s Batman, Karl-Anthony Towns has not scored a point in the 4th quarter in the NBA Finals, even as he's had a very good series. His combined fourth quarter stats against the Spurs: 29.1 minutes played 0-of-6 from the field, 0-of-2 on threes and zero trips to the charity stripe. Some of that is one him, some of it is on the design.

“It was the way we played and the things we were doing offensively,” Brown told Kristian Winfield of the Daily News. “We literally just stood and watched. There was literally no movement.”

During the game, the six-time All-Star passed up a handful of open shots and he needs to be more assertive. He's averaging 57 touches in this series. He had 45 in Game 3. Smaller Spurs defenders are fronting him and he needs to do a better job fighting for position.

The bench mob of Mitchell Robinson, Deuce McBride, Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado has been the lightning behind the starting lineup's thunder. Aside from the pesky Alvarado, the group provided nothing. It so happened to be Jordan Clarkson, who was a DNP-CD in Game 2, was the only player to bring any sought of punch off the pine.

Mikal Bridges, Towns, Shamet and McBride were a combined 1-14 from three. Shamet, who's been unconscious for weeks, was a game-low -20 plus-minues in 23 minutes. Robinson provided nothing in seven ghastly minutes and McBride didn't score a point in nine invisible minutes.

The first two games could've easily went San Antonio’s way. We all would've signed up for a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals through three games. Now this loss can serve as a wakeup call with the Larry O'Brien trophy in grasp for the Knicks entering Game 4.

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